Hello. My name is Tom.
Back in my childhood, I was a huge Pokemon fan. I was ecstatic when I got my first copy of Pokemon Red.
I spent hours, days, even weeks on it, trying to "Catch 'em all". Things were great. Although, there was one area in this game that stuck with me.
A place called Lavender Town. Something about it seemed... off. Hearing the music that played there made me feel uneasy. Seeing the "GHOST"s in Pokemon Tower made it worse. Their eyes looked like they were literally piercing my soul. I turned off my Gameboy after my first encounter with one. I never finished my Pokedex. I was only nine back then. Things scared me pretty easily.
Well, it's been a few years since then. I decided to get myself another copy of Red Version, since I sold my first one. That town alone gave me nightmares for weeks, I needed to get rid of it somehow. So, I was walking to the game store we have around here, 'Game Freaks', hoping they had at least one copy. On the way there, something caught my eye. Someone was having a garage sale. Whoever had owned it was selling a few old electronics. I thought they might have a few interesting things there, an old NES maybe. So I stopped in.
It was eerie, since no one else was there. It was just me and the old man who owned this stuff. He just kept smiling at me, with those rotten teeth.
He finally spoke up. "Lookin' fer this?" He held out a small cardboard box. "No, I'm not looking for anything in particular, just browsi-"
There it was. A copy of Red Version. Right there, in that box.
"H...How'd you... Actually, yes. That's exactly what I'm looking for!" I was still wandering how he knew.
Well, he was an odd old man. He might have nothing to do with his time except watch people go by, overhear conversations, that kind of stuff. I shivered thinking about it. "I know alot o' things, young 'un." He shook the box, the game slid around in it.
"So, are ya interested?" I assumed he'd want a much higher price than Game Freaks would give me. I asked him anyway. "How much?" He gave me a smirk. "Tell ya what. Ya can haz it. Fer freeeeee."
Did... Did I hear him right? A FREE copy of POKEMON RED?!
"You're joking, right? No one just gives away a collectable game like this!" "Ya'd probably get more of a use outta it then an old timer like me could. Take it or leave it. Yer choice."
"I'll take it!"
After taking the cartridge, I thanked the man. While exiting the sale, I could've sworn I heard him say "G'bye, Tom!" I never introduced myself to him. This just made me believe he really had been stalking me. I gave an awkward wave in his direction and left.
I rushed home. I couldn't believe it. I was willing to spend a good fifty bucks on a used copy at Game Freaks, yet I got one in perfect condition for free? Well, almost in perfect condition. The title sticker on the cartridge had a few scratches under the word "Red". Oh well.
"Alright, let's see if you actually work." I slid the cartridge in, turned the Gameboy Advance SP on, aaaaand...
"Hell yeah!" It worked! I still couldn't believe it. After all these years, I was finally going to finish my Pokedex!
I let the startup cutscene play. I was gonna enjoy every minute of this nostalgic moment. Nothing could stop me now.
Finally, I was taken to the title screen. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it usually show Red next to Charmander at first, then it cycles through a few others? There were no Pokemon next to him. At all. I figured the game was free, so I would try to look past glitches like this. I went to the save screen. There was, as you probably guessed, a save already there. All 8 badges, and hundreds of hours of playtime. Out of curiosity, I loaded it.
It started off in Pallet Town. This music... It was so nostalgic. I tried entering Red's house. But instead I was taken to... "Pokemon Tower? What? Aww, dammit. This must be a hacked copy." I tried exiting, only to have a dialog box appear. "No. You can never return home."
Oh, the things these rom makers do, trying to scare the player. Plus, the Pokemon Tower theme wasn't playing. Instead, it was just the flat-out Lavender Town theme. This gave me flashbacks. I laughed at my young past self, being freaked out by this music and all.
Finally, I reached the top. But everything was dark. It looked like I would probably need Flash, but nothing the previous owner had could use it. "Pfft... Still can't go back anyways." I made it to the spot where Mr. Fuji used to be held captive.
Suddenly, I encountered something. A ghost.
Then it said my name. But wait, I never mentioned my name! This was someone else's save! Then it jumped out of my Gameboy and instantly killed me through mere eye contact. Then it took control of my body.
And yet, somehow I managed to type all of this out. Go figure.